Lexus President Wants New LFA... When They Get Around To It
When the head honcho of a corporation wants something it happens. Unfortunately, we may have to wait a while before Lexus gets around to making that happen.
That's quite the car
Yoshihiro Sawa has gone on the record that he really wants a successor to the LFA. The car, with its 4.8-liter V10, was an undeniable hit with the automotive community. The two biggest problems that folks had with the Lexus supercar was the staggering un-Toyota like price tag of $375,000 and the fact that production was limited to just 500 units. Toyota actually lost money on every car it sold but profit wasn't the point of this car, it was an exercise in what the brand could do if they wished to.
>>Join the conversation on Yoshihiro Sawa a possible LFA successor here in Club Lexus.
Well at least he still thinks about it
When Autocar caught up with the main man in charge, the conversation naturally veered over to questions about whether or not the brand would ever produce another high-performance car in the future. "I really want to do an LFA successor, and it is important to have dreams, but for now it is a very complicated situation," said Sawa. "It’s a very difficult question to answer as I would like to do it, but we have other priorities for now." Those priorities would be more vehicles like the LS+ Concept, the new 3-row RX, and the recently greenlit UX crossover.
>>Join the conversation on Yoshihiro Sawa a possible LFA successor here in Club Lexus.
We need more positivity from you Alain
Prices on the supercar are still near or slightly above what they were when it first went on sale back in 2010. The plant in Motomachi where the LFA was built now assembles the high luxury LC coupe. In February 2016, European boss Alain Uyttenhoven confirmed that there would be no new LFA replacement in the near future, remarking: “The LFA is an icon now and possibly always will be - we don't need to replace it to keep that status. It is a car we can reference for another 25 years if we choose. Its status is assured." He went on to state, “It is possible that we will one day create another supercar, but in my view, a super-high-end machine is not what we need right now."
>>Join the conversation on Yoshihiro Sawa a possible LFA successor here in Club Lexus.
A new LFA to rule the segment?
But what if the LFA did come back? What if Lexus gave consumers another option to consider when shopping among the likes of the Merc AMG GT R, the R8, and the McLaren 570 S? What kind of cache could the brand gain by beating these other makes at their own high-performance game? Would things end in a Nissan GTR-esque situation where the capabilities are there but units aren't moving like they should because folks won't buy an expensive Nissan?
>>Join the conversation on Yoshihiro Sawa a possible LFA successor here in Club Lexus.
No harm in dreaming
While a new LFA is just "a dream" right now that doesn't mean it won't become a reality one day. While that fate is a mystery to everyone except those who are privy to the goings-on of the Lexus boardrooms we can remain optimistic. Who knows, maybe in the near future Lexus will grow tired of producing self-driving vehicles and eco-friendly people movers in favor of building another car that is as powerful as it is reasonably plentiful. In the meantime let's just all keep our fingers crossed for a dressed down LC F model that can slap the taste out of some German bruisers.
>>Join the conversation on Yoshihiro Sawa a possible LFA successor here in Club Lexus.
For help with your maintenance and repair projects, please visit our how-to section in the forum.